Favourite beverage?

J

jhclare

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517
In my old age, I've turned into a bit of a snob. Sorry, I mean connoisseur :D

In my student days I'd be quite happy drinking whatever was there, be it Fosters, Stella, John Smiths, Boddingtons, etc.

I realise now the error of my ways. I've never understood why people go to a quality pub and order the most generic and bland lager they have on offer. :?

My girlfriend and I now are so very picky about what and where we drink. If we scan the pumps after walking into a pub and they don't have anything decent, we'll leave, simple as that.

So, here are my current favourites:

  • Erdinger
  • Fruli
  • Kriek
  • Paulaner Hefe-Weizen
  • Schneider Weisse
  • Leffe
  • Duvel
  • Sierra Nevada[/list:u]

    I also like a quality bitter, ale, porter or stout, providing it has been well kept. There is a great micro-brewery in Blackheath called Zero Degrees - their beers are WAY better than all the mass produced crap, and cheaper too! :mrgreen: The Porter House in Covent Garden is great also. Samual Smiths do a great wheat beer also.

    I love wine, both red, white and Rose, usually spend around £6-7 a bottle, maybe £15 for a special occasion. I really want to learn more about it.

    I've never been one for spirits or liqueurs - although I'll drink them on occasion.

    What I really want to get into is quality whiskey, there seems to be a lot to discover and learn!

    John
 
If you ever think that you don't like whisky (Scotch) or whiskey (anywhere else) - you just haven't found your style yet. It's well worth picking up something like Michael Jackson's Malt Whisky Companion - ignore the scores I don't think there's one that gets below 60% - it's the tasting notes that describe the "house" style of any particular distillery and their various offerings. Even my mother (who associated whisky with being a medicine) found several that she enjoys (that to my mind taste nothing like whisky).

The beers and ales I enjoy - mostly my own actually, I like something superhoppy - not much on the market that fits that need - although Freeminer from the Co-op (from the Forest of Dean I think) comes close and a Deuchars IPA (made by the Caledonian Brewery in Slateford, Embra) is enjoyable, as is a pint of heavy, so long as it's well done (Belhaven of Dunbar by preference for me - which is lucky because I don't think I can buy anything else in the pubs around here).

For wine, I typically scan along the shelves in the supermarket for the stuff that's 50% off and is now about £7 or £8 - it works well for me and means I get to drink wine that otherwise I'd pass by (no way am I paying £15 for a bottle of wine :lol: )
 
hunnymonster said:
If you ever think that you don't like whisky (Scotch) or whiskey (anywhere else) - you just haven't found your style yet. It's well worth picking up something like Michael Jackson's Malt Whisky Companion - ignore the scores I don't think there's one that gets below 60% - it's the tasting notes that describe the "house" style of any particular distillery and their various offerings. Even my mother (who associated whisky with being a medicine) found several that she enjoys (that to my mind taste nothing like whisky).

The beers and ales I enjoy - mostly my own actually, I like something superhoppy - not much on the market that fits that need - although Freeminer from the Co-op (from the Forest of Dean I think) comes close and a Deuchars IPA (made by the Caledonian Brewery in Slateford, Embra) is enjoyable, as is a pint of heavy, so long as it's well done (Belhaven of Dunbar by preference for me - which is lucky because I don't think I can buy anything else in the pubs around here).

For wine, I typically scan along the shelves in the supermarket for the stuff that's 50% off and is now about £7 or £8 - it works well for me and means I get to drink wine that otherwise I'd pass by (no way am I paying £15 for a bottle of wine :lol: )
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That's a technique I use as well. Generally speaking you'll get a fairly good wine at that price. You can save even more by ordering by the case online and netting further discounts. I'm so tight I could be a Scotsman :evil:
 
Uh-oh. I'm going to get booed out of this thread as I hardly drink alcohol at all. The only booze I regularly partake of is home made sloe gin, and by regular I mean on an annual basis at Christmas!

I absolutely love Coke, but hardly touch that either for both ethical and health reasons.

What I do love is fruit and vegetable juices and smoothies. We have two juicers and a blender and have a juice most mornings. If anyone's interested in chatting on this subject we could start a new thread, but I suspect the alcohol will win out!

Cheers!! :D
 
I think I may have mis-titled my original post. I meant alcoholic beverage! Maybe we need to sub-categorise this area/thread?

However, also love fruit juices and smoothies, and am also a caffeine fiend! :evil:

In our kitchen, we have:

  • Bialetti stove top
  • Magimix Nespresso machine
  • French Press
  • Blade grinder (soon to be updated to burr)
  • Traditional tea pot (we like loose leaf tea too)[/list:u]

    We buy our beans from http://www.londoncoffeeroasters.com and are particularly fond of the Monsoon Malabar!

    On the topic of tea - does anyone know a good mail order tea merchants?

    John
 
Just start a new thread PC whats the worst thing that can happen?

JH - that is certainly a collection of caffeine parafinalia you have there...looks like you are ready for a "beans to cup"
 
jhclare said:
I think I may have mis-titled my original post. I meant alcoholic beverage! Maybe we need to sub-categorise this area/thread?

However, also love fruit juices and smoothies, and am also a caffeine fiend! :evil:

In our kitchen, we have:

  • Bialetti stove top
  • Magimix Nespresso machine
  • French Press
  • Blade grinder (soon to be updated to burr)
  • Traditional tea pot (we like loose leaf tea too)[/list:u]

    We buy our beans from http://www.londoncoffeeroasters.com and are particularly fond of the Monsoon Malabar!

    On the topic of tea - does anyone know a good mail order tea merchants?

    John
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  • Hi John, Smart minds think alike :) (I have the same kit apart from the Magimix Nespresso machine - my espresso machine is a Gaggia Baby Class). I prefer 'proper' coffee and tea. The only time I take instant coffee or teabag tea is in someone else's house. Try S D Bell's http://www.sdbellsteacoffee.com/. The Wicked Witch (sorry, I mean, mother-in-law) lives close to their emporium and occasionally brings me something nice as she knows I like decent stuff. Disclaimer: I do not consider myself an expert but I know what I like...I can recommend their Captain Cook's and French blends if you like strong coffee. They will grind it to your preference.
 
Have any of you guys been to Germany. I knew they liked their beer, but, they have taken it to a whole new level. Vending machines on the streets, in train stations. Every small town has local breweries. Berlin is where I got my taste for weiss beers and wheat beers. Managed to find a wheat beer that was dark, like a stout. Fantastic stuff. Everyone out enjoying a drink. No violence. This country has some great beers, it's our attitude to drink I'm finding harder to deal with as the years go by. A fairly small percentage of our"fellow" citizens should not really drink, it sends them banana coco pops. I'm afraid I drink only on occasions now and my wife is pretty much T-total. :cry:
 
I didn't drink at all for about 20 years, but in the past 1,5 years I've started to drink occasionally.

For beer I prefer anything Czech. To me even a bad Pilsner is quite nice and preferable to other lagers or standard brews, even the lighter refreshing stuff like Corona or Brahma (Mexican and Brazilian). Staropramen was maybe my fav of the Czechs, but they're all pretty good. Here in the UK I've had Budweiser (not the gross US one, but the Czech namesake) and it's very good. Agree on the weissbier, though some of it is a bit heavy. Has a nice banana-ish flavor. I haven't gotten into bitters or ale.

English Ciders I've found are quite nice (much better than the sickly sweet ciders I tried in Sweden). Dry and fruity is to my taste. Any recommendations?

Whiskey is blech unless it's in a ginger ale with lemon :p ... vodka is ok in tomato juice or tonic. Gin is vile. Some wines are tolerable... had some decent reds in Portugal.
 
g-train said:
I haven't gotten into bitters or ale.
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I think that people that haven't simply have never had decent stuff. A generic bitter from an average pub in London tastes like dishwater. A decent ale, well kept, by a landlord that actually cares about his beer, will be something else entirely. A pub with the CAMRA logo displayed somewhere will usually be pretty good. Also, there are SO many styles, it's a matter of finding one you like, they are not all the same, you can't generalise. It's like saying you don't like shaving soap! :D

English Ciders I've found are quite nice (much better than the sickly sweet ciders I tried in Sweden). Dry and fruity is to my taste. Any recommendations?
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I quite like Aspall Cider from Suffolk. Dry and very tasty. Beats the likes of Strongbow, Magners, etc hands down.

Thatchers is also pretty decent - flat and cloudy, but REALLY tasty, not sweet.

Whiskey is blech unless it's in a ginger ale with lemon :p
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This is what I thought until I read some forums. I think many of the whisk(e)ys that most people know that are sold in supermarkets and in pubs are akin to canned goo in the shaving world.

I think you have to dig deeper and buy the stuff from the specialist shops/distilleries to really explore and find the ones you like. Much like shaving soap/cream! :mrgreen:

In fact, this could be applied to many things in life. Many people are happy with what they know, and can buy anywhere cheaply. They are happy with mass-market produce. They believe all the advertising. Other people, such as ourselves :D , appreciate that the finer things in life take some tracking down, some time, effort, and perhaps more money, but are worth it in the long run.

I'd rather save my £s up during the week and buy some REALLY nice wine at the weekend, rather that drink cheap wine throughout the week. As I get older I'm more about quality than quantity!

John
 
Thanks, John. I have an open mind to drinks, but my palate is pretty immature still. Is Whitstable Bay a good ale? I've tried a few ales, but there is this "baby aspirin" taste I find which is not to my liking. It's not horrible, but I prefer pils and cider.

I've seen Thatchers in the shops, but didn't buy it because of the name ;) Guess I will give it a go anyway.

You are right about whiskey, some is much better than others and the smell can be lovely. But, as with many drinks, there are competing tastes and if the gross taste overpowers the nice one, I just don't think it's worth it and would opt for a vodka tonic instead :cool:

Last winter I got into making cranberry and lime hot toddies. Great when you've got a cold: cranberry juice, fresh lime, ginger and vodka. Vodka flavored with ginger is ok too, but fresh is best. Rum and decaf coffee is also nice.
 
g-train said:
Some wines are tolerable... had some decent reds in Portugal.
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Agreed. Our wines are great. Both red and white. And of course, a Port is always nice after a luxurious meal. :mrgreen:
As for beers, I like Belgians. In a conversation with a fellow straight razor user, we joked: "For us, Belgians are both the stones and the beers" :lol:
 
jhclare said:
I'd rather save my £s up during the week and buy some REALLY nice wine at the weekend, rather that drink cheap wine throughout the week. As I get older I'm more about quality than quantity!
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I think we all get a bit more discerning as we get older :) . Another comment I'd add is that it's often worth paying a little bit extra for that quality
 
I'm on a cider binge at the moment. One of my brothers brought some back for me from Somerset. They were bottles of single variety and tasted superb, ideal for the sub-tropical climate here in the North.
 
Went to Somerset last year for hols. It was great fun trying all the local ciders (lumps et al), had a fun day at Sheppey's Cider Farm in Dowlish Wake. I also took the opportunity to sample some Real Ales during the week. Back home here in N Ireland real beers and ciders are hard to come by (though they can be found if you look hard enough). Pubs here tend to go for the mass market lagers and ciders :(
 
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